Under this three-year delivery order, Northrop Grumman's Mission Systems sector will survey sites, install systems and provide support services to help protect military personnel in the Marine Corps Central Command (MARCENT) area of responsibility, which includes Iraq, Djibouti and Kuwait. Northrop Grumman is teamed with Honeywell Technology Solutions Inc., based in Columbia, Md.

The delivery order, initially valued at nearly $8 million, was awarded by the U.S. Air Force Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., under the $498 million Integrated Base Defense Security Systems contract awarded in August 2003. The contract, which is managed by the Force Protection Systems Squadron at the Electronic Systems Center, is a multiple-award acquisition vehicle for meeting installation-security requirements worldwide.

Key elements of the deployed systems include standoff and perimeter-detection technology, immediate visual assessment, command-and-control display equipment and the supporting power and communications infrastructures. These elements are enhanced through the integration of a wide array of detection and assessment technologies, including ground-surveillance radars, fiber-optic sensors, thermal imagers and command-and-control television cameras and an advanced open-systems command-and-control platform developed for the Air Force by Northrop Grumman called eTASS (Enhanced Tactical Automated Security System).

"This award, which expands on the successes of the Air Force's force-protection offerings, will significantly strengthen security for the Marines and provide the opportunity for joint capability in Southwest Asia," said Dan Verwiel, director of the integrated security systems business at the Mission Systems sector. "The Marine Corps will also now have the capability to expand its eTASS footprint throughout Southwest Asia and take full advantage of the continued development of the eTASS platform and the Army's Sense and Warn initiatives."

In September, the Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman Mission Systems a 21-month, $3.2 million contract to continue developing TASS, which includes upgrades to assessment, communication and command-and-control subsystems.

Northrop Grumman personnel have provided security services in Southwest Asia since 1997, installing systems at more than 40 sites to date.

Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, based in Reston, Va., is a global integrator of complex, mission-enabling systems and services for defense, intelligence and civil government markets. The sector's technology leadership and expertise spans areas such as strategic systems, including ICBMs; missile defense; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; command and control; technical services; and training.